News Briefs — October 2019
Originally published October 2019 · pp. 13
A. Wilson Greene Receives Houston Civil War Round Table’s “Frank E. Vandiver Award of Merit” HOUSTON, Texas—May 16. Continuing a 37-year tradition, the Houston Civil War Round Table (HCWRT) has awarded A. Wilson “Will” Greene the Frank E. Vandiver Award of Merit.
American Civil War Museum’s 49th Annual Literary Awards RICHMOND, Va.—The American Civil War Museum is pleased to announce the results of its 49th annual literary awards honoring outstanding scholarship on the origins, life, and legacies of the Confederate States of America and the American Civil War. The Calculus of Violence: How Americans Fought the Civil War by Dr. Aaron Sheehan-Dean, published by Harvard University Press, is the recipient of the 2018 Jefferson Davis Award for outstanding narrative works. Dr. Sheehan-Dean is Fred C. Frey Professor and Chair of the History Department at Louisiana State University. The two-volume Correspondence
of Major General Emory Upton, edited by Salvatore G. Cilella, Jr., published by the University of Tennessee Press, is the recipient of the 2017–2018 Founders Award for outstanding editing of primary source materials. Mr. Cilella is the former President and CEO of the Atlanta History Center. The Founders Award jury also named as finalists for the award The Legion’s Fighting Bulldog: The Civil War Correspondence of William Gaston Delony Lieutenant Colonel of Cobb’s Legion Cavalry and Rosa Delony, 1853–1863, edited by Vincent Joseph Dooley and Samuel Norman Thomas, Jr., published by Mercer University Press; and The War Outside My Window: The Civil War Diary of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860–1865, edited by Janet Elizabeth Croon and published by Savas Beatie.
The Vandiver Award recognizes outstanding contributions to Civil War scholarship or preservation efforts by an individual or an institution. Presented annually, the award honors the memory of Dr. Frank Everson Vandiver (1925–2005), a renowned Civil War historian and one of the earliest members of HCWRT. Lynda Crist, a long-time member of HCWRT and editor of the Jefferson Davis Papers at Rice University, was the first Vandiver Award recipient in 1982. Other past winners include Gary Gallagher, Ed Bearss, Richard Sommers, Frank O’Reilly, William C. “Jack” Davis, Don Troiani, David E. Roth, James “Bud” Robertson, Eric Jacobson, Ed Cotham, Gordon Rhea, and James McPherson. HCWRT selected Mr. Greene for this year’s award in view of his contributions to the historiography of the Civil War and his service as a tour guide, speaker, and preservationist over a career spanning more than 40 years. A prolific writer on Civil War topics, Will Greene is especially noted for his studies of the Petersburg Campaign. He was the Executive Director of Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier in Petersburg, Va., before retiring in 2017. Prior to this position, Mr. Greene served
as historian and manager with the National Park Service for sixteen years. This service included assignments at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park and Petersburg National Battlefield. From 1990 to 1994, he was President and Executive Director of the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites (now the Civil War Trust, under the American Battlefield Trust).
In presenting the award to Mr. Greene at the May 16 meeting of HCWRT, President Mike Harrington commented, “It is truly a privilege to honor such an outstanding member of the Civil War community.” Mr. Harrington then handed Mr. Greene a large, wooden Minié ball symbolizing the award. Visit www.houstoncivilwar. com for information about the Houston Civil War Round Table.
HCWRT President Mike Harrington, left, with A. Wilson “Will” Greene holding the Frank E. Vandiver Award of Merit.
Dr. Peter C. Luebke, U.S. Military Historian, and Christy Coleman, CEO of the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, present Salvatore Cilella his award, July 1, 2019 at the awards dinner.